The music of the Aughts was all over the map in the very best way, with file sharing and randomly produced personal playlists encouraging eclecticism and experimentation in both artists and listeners. Rolling Stone‘s list of the decade’s 100 best songs – which was originally unveiled in 2009 and was compiled by a group of over 100 artists, critics and industry insiders – includes garage rock revivalists, dance-happy indie, sassy starlets, slick modern R&B, boundary-shattering pop hybrids and a few familiar icons from previous eras. The most exciting thing about this selection of tunes is that, despite all the different styles and voices in the mix, it all sounds totally natural together. In fact, you might already have a playlist that looks just like it.

Beyoncé, ‘Single Ladies’

With a helping hand from The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, Beyoncé issued her definitive statement for ladies stuck in limbo with a dude who can't commit. The swinging beat was irresistible, the video was jiggletastic, and the message was clear: Get it together, fellas.

The Killers, ‘Mr. Brightside’

They crawled out of Vegas armed with glitzy beats and faux Bowie accents. "Mr. Brightside" made them famous, bringing New Wave ecstasy and a story line that sums up the first two seasons of Gossip Girl.

MGMT, ‘Kids’

"Control yourself/Take only what you need from it," they sing, sounding like Arcade Fire shrooming with the Flaming Lips, and with sloganeering so vague, the president of France used this as a campaign theme.

Modest Mouse, ‘Float On’

A snappy, silver-lined indie-pop march that asserts, "Good news is on the way." A summer of '04 hit, its chill-pill positivity nailed the zeitgeist during Bush's re-election: Good news is slow sometimes.

Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Rising’

This strings-laden rock & roll rapture was written about 9/11. But when its metaphor of struggling through darkness was blasted at Obama's victory celebration, it became a national anthem for the 21st century.

Daft Punk, ‘One More Time’

The Auto-Tune revolution began with this dance-floor epiphany. France's finest house DJs built a lovingly detailed tribute to Seventies disco with cyborg voices, wildly EQ'ed horns and an elephantine groove.

The Flaming Lips, ‘Do You Realize??’

The song that epitomized the Lips' mission to put adults in touch with their inner children: See Wayne Coyne's good-natured instructions ("Make the good things last") and hypnotizing acoustic-guitar strums.